Russia expels Norwegian diplomat in tit-for-tat move
Russia has expelled a senior Norwegian diplomat in retaliation for an earlier move by Norway to expel a Russian diplomat on suspicion of having links to an alleged spy case.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that a senior diplomat at the Norwegian Embassy in Moscow had been given three days to leave the country.
The statement described the expulsion as “a retaliatory measure” after a similar move by Oslo.
Norway expelled a Russian diplomat on August 19, a few days after the arrest of a Norwegian citizen suspected of illegally passing information to Moscow. The Norwegian man, who worked at the oil and gas unit of a risk management and quality assurance company, was allegedly with the Russian diplomat at a restaurant at the time of his arrest.
Russia at the time rejected the accusation against its diplomat as groundless.
In its Friday statement, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Norway was taking a “destructive course” that would “inevitably negatively affect the atmosphere of bilateral relations.”
Also on Friday, Norway’s Foreign Ministry identified the Norwegian diplomat expelled as Jan Flaete, and claimed the Russian move was “completely unfounded.”
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